Ravneet Kaur Appointed As Competition Commission Of India Chairperson

The position has been vacant since October 2022 when Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted office. CCI Member Sangeeta Verma has been acting as the Chairperson since October last year

India's competition watchdog was facing a severe shortage of resources, which is impeding its ability to regulate major companies in the country.

Source : CCI

The central government has appointed Ravneet Kaur as the chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), reported PTI citing an official order. The position has been vacant since October 2022 when Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted office. CCI Member Sangeeta Verma has been acting as the Chairperson since October last year, the report said. 

The report said that as per the order dated May 15, the appointment of Ravneet Kaur, a 1988 Punjab cadre IAS officer, will be for a period of five years from the date of assuming charge or till the date of attaining the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest. 

The Chairperson will receive a consolidated salary of Rs 4,50,000 per month, without a house or car, the order added. 

According to various reports, India's competition watchdog was facing a severe shortage of resources, which is impeding its ability to regulate major companies in the country. CCI was functioning with just two members, which is only half of its sanctioned strength, and falls short of quorum. Moreover, the commission has been without a chairperson for the past four months, even though the search for a replacement began seven months ago. The Competition Act stipulates that the CCI must have a chairperson and no less than two and no more than six additional members.

The appointment of Ravneet Kaur as Chairperson will fill the vacancy in the regulatory body's leadership and enable the commission to meet the quorum requirement for issuing orders. According to a report by Mint, the government is actively recruiting more members to ensure that the CCI has a sufficient number of members to function effectively and efficiently. 

Recent amendments to the Competition Act have expanded the scope of CCI's regulatory mandate, the report notes. The commission is now authorized to investigate transactions that meet specific value thresholds for acquisitions, as well as negotiate settlements with businesses and other parties in cases of anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance. As a result, it is critical to increase the CCI's manpower and infrastructure to handle the growing regulatory responsibilities.